U.K. May Get Norway Plus Brexit Deal, Irish Prime Minister Says

(Bloomberg) -- The U.K. may end up in a ‘Norway plus’ style relationship with the European Union after Brexit, according to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who pointed to “different perspectives” within the bloc on a future deal with Britain.

Ireland wants to retain as close as a relationship as possible with the U.K., Varadkar said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Davos on Thursday, yet not all member states are as concerned about future ties.

“We’re very enthusiastic about having a free trade agreement and customs union. I know a lot of countries in central and eastern Europe would have a similar view,” he said. “Other countries that are quite far away from the United Kingdom might not be as concerned.”

Any EU-U.K. trade deal will be a new agreement that could be close to the current arrangements, Varadkar said.

“It will be a specific agreement for the U.K. but of course in Ireland we want that to be as close as possible so we would have it ‘Norway plus’,” Varadkar said. “But we need to get into the detail of what that means.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Peter Flanagan in Dublin at pflanagan23@bloomberg.net, Francine Lacqua in London at flacqua@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Ambereen Choudhury at achoudhury@bloomberg.net, Dara Doyle

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